Local Goa News

Tuesday, June 14, 2016

Centre has resolved minimum pension, bonus issues: Union Minister

PANAJI: The consultative committee meeting of Ministry of Labour and Employment in the state has expressed concern about social security of the labourers since the Prime Minister Narendra Modi is totally emphasising on it, revealed Union Minister for Labour and Employment Bandaru Dattatreya.
Addressing the media, Bandaru said that the government has resolved minimum pension, bonus and interest rate issues. He also said that there was a demand from unions to increase minimum wages to Rs 15,000, which they have increased to Rs 18,000.
The central minister said that Modi, in his last two years of governance, has taken new initiative of ensuring total security to the workers. He said that job security is most important aspect in contract labour and contract system of work adding, the labour contractor should be registered so that the labourers get job security besides timely rise in wages.
Bandaru said that there are 7 crore workers in the organised sector lacking social security while 93 per cent workers in the unorganised sector in the country are without social security due to lack of proper laws, so the ministry has taken initiative to focus more on the unorganised sector.
He said that there are 4.7 crore workers engaged in construction sector but now all of them will get benefits like provident fund, health insurance in a phased manner and everybody will enjoy the ESIC facility, adding, “In the second phase, the government will bring auto-rickshaw and rickshaw pullers under the social security.”
In the third phase, he said all mid-day meal workers, anganwadi workers and volunteers will be included adding the important aspect is that the government is enforcing labour laws.
He said that the Modi government will tackle the cumbersome problems of 44 labour laws through labour code, industrial relation code, social security code of working conditions, safety and health, which will be simplified and amalgamated.
He said that the main aim of the committee is to provide social security, health security and job security to workers and there are only three components to achieve this, he added.
He said Modi government has hiked pension to Rs 3,000 from Rs 1,000, bonus to Rs 7,000 from Rs 3,500 and coverage from 10,000 to 21,000 and this is the highest since independence of the country, adding, “Around 3-4 crore workers will benefit from this Bonus Amendment Act.”
While replying to a question, the central minister said that the “exploitation” of contract labourers by the contractors was the main issue for the meeting adding, “We have thought over it at the consultative meeting and it will be discussed in Parliament and then a decision will be taken.”